“Haven’t You Heard” the News?

There are a lot of strange shows about school life, whether we speak of “Ouran High School Host Club” or “School Rumble” or even “Medaka Box”, but the offering before us, “Sakamoto desuga?” (“Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto” or “I’m Sakamoto, You Know?”) certainly ranks as one of the strangest. We follow the aforementioned First-Year Sakamoto (nope, we don’t know his first name AT ALL) the incredibly cool and popular genius who is well liked by both girls and boys. Despite the strange situations he may be in, Sakamoto always manages to fix the problem in absolute perfection while still being over the top.

In all honestly, this is the kind of guy you really want to hate, hate, hate, as everything he does is exquisite and right on the money. When he is tormented by bullies, he turns the tables on them to the point that they will not mess with him AT ALL. The bullies are bullied into submission. Every circumstance or situation presented to him appears insoluble and that he will have to taste bitter defeat, only to come up with a solution that is so remarkable, so outside the box, so honestly unexpected, that you stand in awe of him. How does he do it?

Yet, he is seemingly oblivious to the situations around him. Whether he will not admit to the depth of the problem or feels it is not a factor, he never slips up, no, not AT ALL. He even takes Yoshinobu Kubota under his wing. He is one of those blobby types that is bullied, but helps him stand up for himself. It is a rough road, but he can walk it with Sakamoto’s help.

Even if you do not want his help, you end up accepting it, as it is dispensed in such a way that you end up taking it, even if you did not see it as such, as the result or solution is the only logical choice. And he is never over-bearing or insufferable about it. He’s just helping out another fellow protoplasm.

This is a fine show, with a well-defined character who remains unflappable, even in the worst of situations and set-ups. Maybe you want to see if he will fail (save your juice, Bruce, it don’t happen!) or the enormous effect he has on everyone. Even birds love him!

The ending is a tad off, but it’s one of those conclusions that you realize, this is the only outcome for all involved. Could there be a second season? Potentially, but with such a wonderful ending, you may be hard-pressed to go for another round and not ruin what you have laid down before.